"Not yet." Mozart corrected her. He was referring to the fact that he was still a youngster, not the present Archdevil of Combat, Mephistopheles.
No wonder he knew that she was a half demon. He was also similar to her, a mixed blood. And he came from an imperial lineage. Erza was unsure whether the current head of Clinton family knew that Mozart was not his son, or not.
"Become my Empress, then I will present you the Underworld."
After he finished his words, the whites of Mozart's eyes disappeared completely as they became pitch-black. He then lifted up his right hand and quickly pushed it downward. As it descended, darkness engulfed the entire arena and countless pillars of dark crimson flames shot up from below the stage.
The dark crimson pillars of flames behind him produced a tearing noise that sounded like the cry of a thousand birds as it hurtled towards Erza like an enormous sky-devouring devil, as if it wanted to swallow her up in deep and boundless inferno.
'Lightning Step!'
Waves of dark crimson energy tore open space itself and descended from above, filled with an extremely grim aura of danger. Erza's body blurred, and five afterimages shot out in five different directions as she instantly avoided Mozart's rampaged dark crimson energy. After that, her body ignited with Phoenix flames as she soared high into the sky, unleashing the Lightning Dance of the Phoenix Wing.
The burning Phoenix flames were especially luminous and harsh in the midst of the darkened sky. Phoenix flames rushed outwards as it forcibly tore a scarlet trench through the enormous Dark Domain. By the time Erza's body had come to a stop, she was already one kilometre away from her original location above the sky. She extended her arm, and to her astonishment, she saw that her clothes had become riddled with holes!
Not only did the darkness that had engulfed the entire arena have the ability to swallow light, it would also consume his target's flesh every second she spent beneath it. Even more frightening was that it also had the effect of heavily suppressing one's soul.
Erza possessed extraordinary soul and will, so this kind of pressure was something that she could still handle. However, if another person were facing Mozart, even if they had the same level of strength as him, that person would feel ill at ease in this shroud of darkness. Their chest would feel constricted and painful, and if they spent enough time in this darkness, their mind might actually collapse under the strain.
The audiences were not affected much since they did not get targeted by Mozart. However, Mozart's sudden eruption of Dark Magic left them dumbfounded. They still remembered that he had the power of purification from his fight with Ling Men. Unexpectedly, he also excelled in the law of darkness.
The fight moved up high above the sky. As a result, some students had difficulties to follow up with their movements. Fortunately, several Great Elders decided to work together and managed to create a projection of Erza and Mozart fight.
The Phoenix flames surrounding Erza's body flared up. Her arms casually crossed over her chest, and she did not even spare Mozart a single look as she spoke calmly, "Tsk tsk! It was such a grand display of might that I expected an attack capable of shaking both the heavens and the earth, but to think that it couldn't even harm a single hair on my head… I expect more from my potential suitor!"
Mozart's nerves twitched. He did not see that coming. It touched his pride, when the girl he liked, doubted his capability.
Thick dark energy suddenly formed behind Mozart. At the same instant, a furious roar that seemed to have come from the very depths of hell resounded in the sky.
"Eternal Night Sky Burial!"
Darkness broke through the heavens, and for a moment, Erza's entire field of vision was engulfed in darkness… it was as if the entire sky had been completely and utterly buried by the darkness!
It was truly a power that could bury the heavens!!
Erza's pupils contracted slightly, but her expression remained calm and unperturbed. She did not dare to relax for even an instant as the darkness in front of her threatened to overthrow the heavens.
Space began to distort severely under the erosion of the darkness. Both of her eyes widened as she stared at the approaching darkness. She immediately used Lightning Step to retreat backwards swiftly, yet she still could not escape the world of darkness that was vast enough to bury the heavens. The moment the darkness engulfed Erza's body, her eyes flashed as she entered her Black Lightning Flame Form.
'Lesser Purgatory!!'
Under the effects of Lesser Purgatory, even the darkness that had the power to bury the heavens was unable to actually bury Erza brightness. Erza poured all of her energy into supporting Lesser Purgatory as all the Phoenix flames around her body flared up to their greatest magnitude.
*Sccccreeee!!*
Following a clear, resonating Phoenix cry, the world of darkness was violently split apart by a beam of flame.
"Hehehe.. Prince of Combat.. Don't tell me that this is all you've got?" Erza giggled as she continued to taunt Mozart. She saw it was working, so she continued to provoke her opponent.
Erza might have been giggling outwardly, but she was actually astonished and alarmed inside. The profound art Mozart used was extremely strong.
When she was swallowed by that darkness that could blot out the sky and cover the earth, she was sure that if she had failed to use Lesser Purgatory in time, she would have definitely received serious injuries all over her body within a matter of seconds!
Even her soul might have been harmed!
Erza's body was ablaze, and she flickered brilliantly in the dark sky that had been devoured from all its light. As such, Mozart did not even need to use his perception to find Erza; he could lock onto her position almost instantly.
He had seen Erza being swallowed up by the "Eternal Night Sky Burial" with his own two eyes, yet with the same pair of eyes he had also seen Erza escape from within the darkness. He could hardly see a scratch left by the corrosive darkness on Erza's entire body.
Even though no one was able to determine his and Erza's true realm, Mozart knew that both him and Erza were at the pinnacle of early level Knight Realm.
Unlike Erza, he had awakened and practiced his demonic bloodline at the age of eight. Having met his real father and been trained by him since the early days, Mozart believed that he should not have a hard time defeating Erza.
Yet, reality proved that it was not the case… he had clearly used most of his power to attack, but he had not even managed to harm his opponent at all! Instead, the only thing he received in return was the taunting of his opponent.
In his state of shock and humiliation, Mozart's killing intent soared dramatically as he became the embodiment of carnage and vengeance. He took out a different set of dual daggers and swiftly moved towards Erza.
As the jet black daggers arrived in front of Erza's body, space shattered like glass. Aside from the grating sound of space being torn apart, Erza could also faintly hear something that sounded like the wailing of evil spirits.
Within the next ten minutes, both fighters exchanged more than a thousand strikes and kept moving at breathtaking speeds. Their battle left jet black and glaring red scars in the air that did not dissipate until a long while later.
Erza combined Double Acceleration, Lightning Step, and Lightning Dance of the Phoenix Wing as she received Mozart's attacks. Sometimes she was an afterimage, other times she was a dancing tempest, completely dodging, parrying, and even counter-attacking every single one of Mozart's attacks.
However, waves of dark crimson profound energy still swept across her body after every attack, causing her body and mind to undergo incomparable suffering… Fortunately for Erza, it was still within the limit of what she could endure.
Gradually, Mozart focused more on his dark power. This was the attribute he most excelled at.
"Hey, you should stop using your dark power. Otherwise, some elders might suspect that you are not a pure human." Erza sent him a voice transmission as she saw more and more profound dark energy were released.
Erza was worried for him. After all, she considered Mozart as one of her close friends.
Mozart knew that what she said was right. Besides, he still liked his current life. As a result, he was in deep dilemma on what to do, should he follow his emotion or his logic?
"Fine. The next attack will be my last. If you still manage to stand up after that, then I will admit my defeat….. Be careful."
As his words fell, the dark essences in the sky swiftly gathered into rolling clouds of darkness. As they roiled, they released an aura which evoked a feeling that the end of the world was imminent.
'Lightless Stormy Night!!'
At the very next moment, dreadful dark energy was frantically released, sweeping out in a gigantic wave that threatened to engulf everything and swiftly becoming a terrifying storm of darkness...
In an instant, the surrounding space was easily torn apart as it collapsed and shattered, causing spatial energy to wildly surge outwards from the rifts in space. This energy melded with the storm of darkness, becoming an even more terrifying pitch-black cyclone that swept towards Erza.
Even when this dark cyclone was still more than a hundred meters away, Erza could already smell the thick stench of hell coming from it. Her eyes focused as she prepared to use Lightning Step and Double Acceleration to swiftly flee away from this attack. However, the ripping force of that dark cyclone was extremely terrifying; not only did it prevent her from fleeing, it even forcefully drew her towards it.
*Riiipppp!!*
All the clothes on Erza's body were completely ripped to shreds. Her pupils fiercely contracted and she did not hesitate any longer.
'Empyrean Chronos Art – Time Paradox!!'